Debates of Oct. 8th, 2026

Public Services and Procurement

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of failures in military procurement, the Liberals found a solution: create even more bureaucracy.

The Defence Investment Agency has yet to deliver any new equipment to our military members, and its chief executive officer reportedly wanted to leave because he was frustrated with the slow pace of the system. However, with Bill C‑40, the Liberals want to turn this agency into a Crown corporation. Our military does not need a new agency. It needs equipment.

Why is the Liberals' answer to failure even more bureaucracy?

[Stephen Fuhr, Liberal, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)]

Mr. Speaker, anyone who is paying attention would know that the Defence Investment Agency, over the last 12 months, has done a lot to deliver for our armed forces. We are in contract award for new aircraft. We are in contract award for armoured vehicles. We are advancing projects such as submarines and AEW&C aircraft. All these things are happening.

Bill C-40 would give our Defence Investment Agency a more commercially minded organization that could do things faster and do much more than just buy things for the military.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what we are seeing with the Defence Investment Agency is that they are already picking winners. We know that Saab's GlobalEye aircraft was selected as the preferred option, without any real competition and without proper consultation with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Now, with Bill C‑40, we run the risk of further reducing parliamentary oversight.

Will the minister guarantee that no contract will be awarded under the table?

[Stephen Fuhr, Liberal, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)]

Mr. Speaker, part of the question was incoherent, but let me address the part of it that I think I could hear. Bill C-40 would still have all the safeguards for oversight and government accountability that we have in the system we have right now.

With regard to the member's comment about the GlobalEye, we did the necessary analysis to make the choice to download Saab as the preferred supplier. This is great for Canada. These airplanes are built in Canada. They could be militarized in Canada for our own needs and exported to the world. This is good for Canadian jobs, good for Canada and good for our armed forces.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister announced a global aircraft project that does not meet operational requirements, to the surprise of the air force. L3Harris Canada and other contenders were not consulted. With no open competition, clearly politics was put ahead of defence. This is not the type of procurement Canada needs.

Bill C-40 would bring an updated DIA Crown corporation with no defined procedures. However, there would be 13 exceptions for sole-source contracting, with no written reasons required.

How would the government bring open competition and enhanced accountability, when Bill C-40's focus is on giving the DIA more power and the government less accountability?

[Stephen Fuhr, Liberal, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)]

Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting to find out, when people are criticizing what we are up to, what they did when they had the keys to the car. The Conservative Party let NATO defence spending fall below 1%. The Conservatives actually got us out of NATO AWACS. That was a specific, conscious decision by the Stephen Harper government.

Regarding the NATO airplane we are looking at buying, everybody in the world wants it. It is built in Canada. It will be built for Canadians and built for our allies. We are very proud of that.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for mansplaining the past. The government has failed to meet even the 2%.

The Prime Minister has made numerous defence announcements that have—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member, from the top.

[Jeff Kibble, Conservative, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made numerous defence announcements that have no signed contracts, including the GlobalEye project, which bypassed open competition. Now, Bill C-40 would turn the Defence Investment Agency into a Crown corporation that would give the Liberals unprecedented powers to bypass parliamentary oversight and easily approve sole-source contracting without fair competition.

Will the Liberals commit to releasing the DIA's full procurement procedures and provide written justification to Parliament for all major sole-source military procurement contracts?

[Stephen Fuhr, Liberal, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)]

Mr. Speaker, Telesat and MDA is a signed contract. Bombardier is a signed contract. General Dynamics Land Systems—Canada is a signed contract.

May I remind the member that he voted against defence spending in 2024 at the defence committee. We will take no lessons from the Conservatives.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, nobody trusts the Liberals or the secretary of state. After a decade, the Liberals always play political games.

We are now on the third iteration of the Prime Minister's attempt to reinvent the wheel. Nothing changed in the last six months, except that media reported that Doug Guzman wanted to resign after less than a year as CEO of the Defence Investment Agency.

Is Bill C-40 nothing more than an attempt to keep the Prime Minister's BFF from rage quitting because he had to be accountable to taxpayers?

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, it is very obvious that the member opposite does not want to talk about his lack of support for the Canadian Armed Forces. Every single time we have brought forward defence spending at committee, the Conservative Party has voted against it.

Mr. Speaker, in budget 2025, we invested more than $81 billion in defence over the next five years. We have met the NATO target of 2% five years ahead of schedule. I do not understand why the member opposite cannot get on board.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about reality. In May, the Liberal solution was turning the brand new DIA into a stand-alone agency. Six months later, the Liberals changed their minds again and are trying to turn the agency into a Crown corporation. In reality, the Liberals are attempting to circumvent Treasury Board rules and give a new associate minister unprecedented power over a Crown corporation that would have to do everything the associate minister would say, do and spend.

Is this a new attempt by the Prime Minister to decrease accountability and increase political interference in defence procurement?

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of National Defence was in Alberta to talk about the incredible investments we have been making. At CFB Edmonton, we highlighted nearly $8 billion in defence investment, including nearly $4 billion to support future fighter capabilities at CFB Cold Lake. There is $750 million for a new chemical and biological laboratory at Suffield. There is $550 million to establish the western operating base for the Royal Canadian Air Force's Husky fleet. There is over $580 million over the next three years for maintenance and repair work across bases in Alberta.

There are over 12,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces and DND employees in Alberta, and we support them.

The Economy

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, on TVA news, reporter Pierre-Olivier Zappa talked about a study that found that, this year, a traditional Thanksgiving meal will cost 10% more than last year. He even suggested considering an alternative to the traditional meal. That is where we are at after 11 years of Liberal governance. Getting together as a family should never be a luxury. The Liberals want to raise taxes. We want Canadians to have more money in their pockets.

Can the Liberals understand that after 11 years of their rule, we are experiencing an affordability crisis in Canada?

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are interested in actual facts. Here are the facts: The cost of housing has fallen for 24 consecutive months, and housing construction has increased. We have reached agreements across Canada to lower the cost of housing and build more affordable housing. We created the Canada rental protection fund. Just this morning, we launched a $2-billion fund for climate-friendly renovations to reduce families' expenses by up to $1,400 per year. That is meaningful action.

The truth is that members opposite do not have a plan, other than to have the government abdicate all responsibility toward its citizens.

Climate Change

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are defending Bill C-39, which will push pipeline projects through by scrapping environmental laws. Today, the Canadian Climate Institute revealed that greenhouse gas emissions in Canada did not fall in 2025; instead, they rose to nearly 700 million tonnes. The 2025 increase is equivalent to adding one million vehicles to the roads.

The Liberals have forgotten that the aim is to pollute less, not more. Just imagine if, on top of that, they let their Prime Minister push Bill C-39 through and build pipelines.

Do they realize that their silence is setting us on a course for disaster?

[Nathalie Provost, Liberal, Secretary of State (Nature)]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my esteemed colleague for his question. However, I think it is important to take a broader view of the issue. Overall, methane emissions have declined, and the oil and gas sector has improved its performance, resulting in lower emissions. At the same time, emissions associated with the construction sector have increased. Today's announcement will help address that.

Half of the projects discussed at the investment summit were renewable energy projects. All of Canada's provinces are working hard, together, to reduce emissions—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Repentigny.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, greenhouse gas emissions in this country are going up instead of down because the Prime Minister eliminated carbon pricing, eliminated the emissions cap for the oil and gas sector and ended up causing the member for Laurier—Sainte‑Marie to step down. The rising emissions are only going to get worse, according to the Canadian Climate Institute, because the Liberals are approving pipelines left, right and centre. There are Liberals who have led us to the brink of a climate crisis, but the Prime Minister wants to take it one step further.

Is anyone going to stop him?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am baffled, because the member will literally be able to look out his window in Repentigny and have a view of one of the best possible ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I am talking about the Alto high-speed train, which will connect four of Quebec's largest cities to Ontario, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and form the backbone of Quebec's transportation system. This is a generational project that deserves the support of this guy who says he wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Housing

[Jacob Mantle, Conservative, York—Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Habitat for Humanity said this week that Canada is an outlier for all the wrong reasons. Canada is now the place where people who do not own a home have the least hope of ever owning one, as 56% of Canadians who do not own a home say they never will. That is twice the global average and the highest of any country surveyed. Yesterday, the Prime Minister stood here and claimed that housing affordability has improved. We know that is all talk and no action.

If affordability has improved, why is Canada a place where Canadians do not believe they will ever own a home?

[Jennifer McKelvie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking Habitat for Humanity for the work it does. I am very excited that this summer in Ajax, with the help of the housing accelerator fund, we found land for Habitat for Humanity to build upon.

That is just part of our plan for young Canadians across the country from coast to coast to coast. We have introduced the GST rebate for new homebuyers, which is helping our youth in this country to buy a home, but we are not stopping there. We are also investing in housing-enabling infrastructure. We are working with Ontario and B.C. to bring down development charges. That reduces the cost of a home.

[Jacob Mantle, Conservative, York—Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I too am grateful for the work of Habitat for Humanity. I just wish fewer Canadians needed it. Intentions do not build homes. The Liberals' failure to deliver on housing means that the next generation has no hope of a home. That means their future is on hold, that the ability to buy a house, to start a family, to get the job they want and to stand on their own two feet is on hold. A Liberal government that believes that is affordability is out of touch. It is not good enough. It is not good enough for those Canadians. It is not good enough for our country.

Is it good enough for the minister?